Professional Development

Humans are constantly learning and adapting to change and individuals charged with imparting wisdom to the next generation of leaders, we too must learn. This page provides information on conferences, workshops and additional opportunities to develop higher education science teaching skills.

SELECT WEB RESOURCES SPECIFICALLY FOR SCIENCE FACULTY

Western Teaching Support Centre

Western's Teaching Support Centre provides resources and information on various university events and conferences. From teaching with technology workshops to resources on student engagement and faculty collaboration, this is a one-stop university-based shop is a great resource for faculty.

Proctoring Online Training Module

Specifically designed for graduate students proctoring exams in the Faculty of Science at Western, this resource provides proctors with relevant information on how to handle situations that may arise during examination and also the process in reporting cheating. To access, one will need to log in with their owl account.

https://owl.uwo.ca/portal/site/e7e6cbc2-0342-4612-9e19-623f49850d86

The Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI)

Based at the University of British Columbia, the goal of this multi-year project is to improve undergraduate science education through the application of the latest technological tools and pedagogical research. This website has a number of useful resources including documents and videos to help faculty apply effective teaching techniques, and develop learning goals and published articles on ground-breaking research and by involved faculty.

PSEER: Physical Science and Engineering Education Research Centre

This research centre within the College of Physical and Engineering Science at the University of Guelph aims to promote research into teaching and learning in the physical and engineering sciences, and to foster improved pedagogical practices in the classroom.

T-Pulse: Tomlinson Project in University-Level Science Education

Hosted at McGill University, T-PULSE was established to support the development of more effective teaching methods for university level science students and the dissemination of these techniques to the professoriate. Web resources information on clickers (include question bank for various disciplines), learning materials and information on current research projects in science education.

The Science Education Initiative

Based at the University of Colorado, and in collaboration with CWSEI, the goal of the SEI is to achieve highly effective, evidence-based science education for all post-secondary students by applying the latest advances in pedagogical and organizational excellence. Web resources include clicker/peer instruction, workshop materials, course archives and first-day "framing" activiites to help introduce students to active learning.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Education Initiative

Based at the North Carolina State University, this initiative seeks to enhance education through the development, assessment, and sharing of innovative teaching methodologies for STEM disciplines. Resources available on the website includes reports useful for writing proposals to funding agencies, and a list of domain-specific literature.

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)

For over twenty years, Project Kaleidoscope has been one of the leading advocates in the United States for building and sustaining strong undergraduate programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In addition to a lively blog featuring various topics, this website also includes resources relating to assessment, course and curriculum design, outreach, pedagogies, and advocacy to name a few.

Center for Scientific Teaching at Yale University

Through the use of evidence-based teaching and its cornerstones (active learning, diversity and assessment), this center seeks to improve undergraduate science education. Resources on the website includes a digital library featuring instructional material for undergraduate courses such as molecular biology.

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning

The CIRTL mission is to enhance excellence in teaching of STEM disciplines in higher education. Based on three core pillars of teaching-as-research, learning communities, learning-through-diversity, this program has grown to support a learning community supporting the mutual exchange of successful strategies and programs based on the CIRTL pillars with over 20 universities. Members have access to resources including webinars, chat sessions, extensive literature review on pertinent topics, and course guidebooks to name a few.